While in Bucharest, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga said today, September 18, that Romania should consider shooting down Russian unmanned aerial vehicles near its airspace.
He said he was “grateful for Romania’s historic decision to donate the Patriot system to Ukraine,” but kyiv was awaiting additional military support.
“It is very important to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities. This is a shield not only for Ukraine, but also for Europe. Today we defend not only Ukraine, but also Europe. We have numerous cases of violations of NATO airspace by Russian missiles or drones, so this system, especially in winter, will allow us to strengthen our energy infrastructure, and as you can see, Russia’s efforts are aimed at preventing us from producing electricity.” – the minister stressed.
Sibiga explained that Russian missiles and drones “fly or fall near nuclear power plants in Ukraine and can be extremely dangerous.”
“Therefore, I would like to ask our partners in Romania to consider the possibility of shooting down Russian drones and missiles near Romanian airspace.” – concluded Andrei Sibiga.
Earlier, the Romanian Senate’s Defense Committee announced that it would discuss changes to legislation that would allow the military to shoot down drones that violate the country’s airspace. Romanian lawmakers plan to invite representatives of the country’s Ministry of National Defense to the next session.
“The first drones started falling in Romania more than a year ago. Since then we have been constantly hearing that we have no legislation. Romanians deserve an explanation about Russian UAVs flying freely in Romanian airspace.” – said the senator christina berea.
He also criticised the Prime Minister. Marcela Ciolacu for his “no” reaction to the flight and downing of Russian drones, “since any violation of Romanian airspace is an act of particular gravity.” The other day, the head of government stated that his country did not shoot down the Russian attack drones because they were not aimed at Romanian targets. Ciolaku added that in this case it would be necessary to open fire on Ukrainian territory, something that is not yet permitted.” In July, the Romanian Ministry of Defense already denied information on social media that Romanian air defenses stationed on the border with Ukraine had allegedly opened fire on Russian drones.
Recall that, according to the law, Romania cannot shoot down Russian drones over the territory of Ukraine in peacetime, as this would require opening fire on the neighboring country. In this regard, the head of the Senate Nicolae Ciuca He proposed concluding a protocol with kyiv to enable air defence systems to destroy Russian drones flying in Romanian airspace.
In this case, a legal response could include Russian strikes against the Romanian locations of F-16 aircraft transferred to Ukraine, which fly into the combat zone through the territory of Moldova. The constitutionally neutral republic has effectively become a NATO hub and is actively used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces for logistical purposes.
As reported EADaily In Romania, on the border with Ukraine, remnants of Ukrainian drones or air defense missiles flying into the adjacent territory are periodically discovered. The Romanian Air Force deploys its fighter jets when it detects Russian attack weapons flying near its border. At the same time, NATO emphasizes that it does not see any specific threat against the alliance countries.
